Matteo Franceschetti: The Ultimate Hiring Playbook: Five Questions to Ask Every New Hire | E1084

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

November 20, 2023

Duration

1h 53m

Channel

The Twenty Minute VC

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Matteo Franceschetti is the Co-Founder and CEO @ Eight Sleep, a company dedicated to fueling human potential through optimal sleep. To date, Matteo has raised over $160M for the business from the likes of Founders Fund, Ryan Petersen, Naval Ravikant, Kevin Hart, AROD and many more. ----------------------------------------------- Timestamps: (0:00) Intro (00:50) Athlete to Entrepreneur Transition (03:00) Startup Challenges (08:03) Unit Economics & CAC Insights (17:11) Product and Pricing Evolution (20:38) Fundraising and Growth (25:32) Founder Advice and Investor Role (26:40) Sleep Tech Innovation (33:26) Execution and Product Strategy (43:46) Pricing and Differentiation (48:45) Hiring and Team Building (58:47) Workplace Culture Dynamics (01:23:09) Sleep Science and Health (01:44:16) Quick-Fire Round ----------------------------------------------- In Todays Episode with Matteo Franceschetti We Discuss:

1. Why Did Sleep Need “Solving”: Why did Matteo decide he wanted to spend decades of his life-solving sleep? If Matteo has known how hard it was going to be, would he do it again? What does Matteo know now that he wishes he had known at the start of the journey?

1. Hiring the Best Team: What is Matteo’s playbook for hiring? What are the five questions that Matteo asks in every interview? What are big red flags? What are strong signals of great talent? If people have been let go in a RIFF, is that a concern? How does Matteo construct hiring panels? What vote count is enough for an approved hire? What are Matteo’s biggest lessons on title and pay a new hire receives? What are some of Matteo’s biggest lessons when it comes to firing people?

1. Funding the Business: What was the hardest round to raise? Why? Are investors justified in their skepticism of hardware? What are the single biggest pieces of advice Matteo would give to founders on raising? How impactful has it been having Keith Rabois and Founders Fund as an investor? Do VCs really add value?

1. Mastering Health, Sleep and Nutrition: How does your diet impact the quality of sleep you have? How does exercise and the time of exercise impact your sleep? What are some common rules on sleep that are BS and myths? What are some of the most non-obvious truths about getting great sleep? ----------------------------------------------- Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465 Follow Harry Stebbings on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings Follow Matteo Franceschetti on Twitter: https://twitter.com/m_franceschetti Follow 20VC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/20vc_reels Follow 20VC on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@20vc_tok Visit our Website: https://www.20vc.com Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/contact ----------------------------------------------- #VentureCapital #MatteoFranceschetti #EightSleep #HarryStebbings

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Harry Stebbings

  host

• Matteo Franceschetti

  guest

• Guest co‑host/interviewer

  host

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of The Twenty Minute VC, featuring Harry Stebbings and Matteo Franceschetti, Matteo Franceschetti: The Ultimate Hiring Playbook: Five Questions to Ask Every New Hire | E1084 explores eight Sleep CEO Reveals Playbook for Hiring, Velocity, and Sleep Tech Matteo Franceschetti, co-founder and CEO of Eight Sleep, explains how he built a hard‑tech, premium sleep brand by obsessing over unit economics, velocity of execution, and rigorous hiring. He details the journey from naive hardware founders struggling with Chinese manufacturing and brutal fundraises to a profitable, fast‑growing company selling a smart bed cover as a preventive health platform. Franceschetti shares his operating principles: clarity of thinking through writing, dual metrics (growth and CAC) to avoid ‘growth at all costs,’ strict hiring and firing standards, and a culture of high speed without sacrificing quality. He also outlines his views on sleep, recovery, and health, and how beds will evolve into always‑on body scanners capable of detecting disease and saving lives.

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